February 18th has always been a difficult day for me. Not only is it my best friend's birthday, but my mom's as well. It's always been a battle for me to choose one or the other..and obviously I always compromise with Yvonne to celebrate with my mom. I mean, she did give birth to me..so that's the least I could do. But besides all that struggle, I'm also extremely thankful for this day because two of the most influential women in my life were born on this date.

Many of you don't know this, but Yvonne and I struggled a lot to get to where we are today. Perhaps it has to do with our long history and the fact that we've known each other since we were kids. Our friendship was fragile for a very long period of time and we've definitely done some of the worst things to each other in our teenage years. It's honestly a miracle we're still such good friends. I'm thankful to God every day that He brought us together and kept us together because my life would be so different without her influencing my major decisions and walk with God. She pushes me to dig deeper with Him even when I'm surrounded by enormous amounts of distractions.

I've always admired the fact that she's so good at staying in touch with people. It's like you literally cannot get rid of her once you're in her life (haha jk). It's seriously incredible to me that she's able to foster such great friendships with people and keeps it going without fail. I think I can personally recall trying to distance myself from her in college and she'd fly to Davis to visit me. It's just amazing how this girl does that. She's probably one of the most confident people you will ever find, which is what I love most about her. She's strong and holds herself to a higher standard, which in turn makes me do the same. Her influence is quite contagious and the people around her can feel it. I know she's the type of person that can do anything she puts her mind to doing, whether it be getting good at writing or twerking..haha. I wouldn't say I admire this fact, but I do like that she's always way too blunt with me. I admit sometimes it would offend me (since I'm super sensitive), but over the years I've gotten to really see her heart and know her intentions. Everyone needs someone close like this in their life, to tell it as it is and call you out..

To be quite frank, she's probably the one that irritates me the most, but also the one I love most. It's confusing, I know. For awhile I couldn't understand why God brought us together because we're such different people. But slowly I started to see God's purpose and intention through our friendship. Our friendship taught me that Godly relationships last forever, despite who you are, how you change, and anything that would normally tear people apart. I also started to realize that everything we went through lived on to be a testimony of God's grace and love. I learned that true relationships don't depend on anything in this world, but through the spirit. God has taught both of us so much about ourselves, each other, and Him. And now through our experiences, we're able to help other friendships as well. Isn't that just such a darn sweet thing? Haha...anyway....love you to pieces, Yvonne! Even when you're ultra needy at times, you know I wouldn't be able to live without you. I can't wait to grow old and share every next step in life with you. I know we joke about it all the time, but truly looking forward to growing in our marriages, parenting days, and our eternal days in heaven together. Our dream of worshipping and doing bible study with our husbands may be closer than we think! ;) Hope you have a blast with me this weekend!! This is the first year I'm prioritizing your birthday and spending the day with you! Better soak in everything while you can!! Haha kidding...Welcome to the later part of your 20's! Happy birthday, love. You're the moscow to my mule. I love you to heaven and back! :)